When and How to Transfer Credit Card Rewards Points To Get The Most Value
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Who are the hosts of this podcast episode?
Sally, let's play a game. Tell me if you think the following statement is a truth or myth.
Oh, you love podcast games. Let's do it.
Okay, the best way to use your credit card points is to transfer them to airline or hotel loyalty programs instead of booking travel through your credit card's travel portal.
Well, I want to say trick question. This one depends. Like, I feel like almost all my answers. You have to know which transfers actually make sense because not all of them do.
That's why listeners have us. We're here to give you the shortcuts on which transfer partners are worth booking with to save you some points.
Welcome to Smart Travel, a deep dive into the tips, tools, and tactics to maximize your travel dollars. I'm Megan Coyle.
What are the latest travel news and updates affecting travelers?
And I'm Sally French, and we're the travel nerds ready to help you plan your next big trip. Maybe on points? If you've heard that you should transfer your points for travel redemptions, listen up. It can save you thousands of points, but you have to know which transfer partners you have access to and which ones offer the best rates.
because not all of them do. Big hint, we'll go over some possible good transfer partners this month in the news, but really quick, let's do our usual disclaimer. We will talk about a few credit card companies that are NerdWallet partners in this episode, but that does not influence how we discuss them. The benefits, terms, and fees mentioned were accurate at the time of posting, but things can change. Some offers may have expired by the time you're listening. For the latest details, follow the links in the episode description.
One thing we'll talk about later in the episode is that there are these special deals called transfer bonuses that can make transferring to a partner even cheaper.
And one of those special deals right now is a transfer bonus going between Chase Ultimate Rewards to IHG. That's one of the hotel loyalty programs that has brands like Intercontinental, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and one of my personal favorites, Kempton. That one is an 80% transfer bonus. So if you need 180,000 points for an awards day at one of these properties, you would only have to transfer 100,000 points. The other 80,000 would show up in your IHG account as the bonus.
That's a lot of points. But this transfer bonus is only running through April 30th, 2025. So if you're listening to this episode after that date, check NerdWallet's list of current transfer bonuses for others. We'll link to that in the episode description. That's often where I start when I'm looking to use points for a trip.
And don't worry, if you're not a Chase cardholder, there are other great bonuses out there. One of the best ones right now is a 20% transfer bonus from Amex to Aeromexico Club Premier or Etihad Guest. Both of those also end April 30th, 2025.
And over in city land, cardholders with city thank you points can transfer to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club with a 30% bonus. And they have a bit longer to do that. That one ends May 17th, 2025.
Lots of good deadlines there to note. Another good one is that the federal requirement to have a real ID for commercial domestic flights is finally going into effect May 7th, 2025. That's after years of delays.
That means you have two weeks, two weeks, people, to get your real ID if you don't have one already.
You know, Megan, I was actually just in the airport this week and saw signs everywhere aggressively reminding people of this. So here we are passing on those aggressive reminders to our listeners.
This is your reminder to schedule your appointment at the DMV. So once the requirement goes into effect, if you don't have a Real ID, Compliance, State ID, or Driver's License, you might have to bring another approved type of ID to board a domestic flight.
Other approved type of IDs include a U.S. passport or passport card. Your global entry card will also work if you have that. We have a list of the accepted IDs and how to tell if you even have a real ID on NerdWallet's website. You can find that link in the show description.
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